"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

"Use Form 8880 to figure the amount, if any, of your retirement savings contributions credit (also known as the saver's credit). The maximum amount of the credit is $1,000 ($2,000 if married filing jointly)."  MORE >>

"Employers may have good reasons to suspend safe harbor contributions or terminate a safe harbor plan mid-year, but the Code and Treasury Regulations limit the circumstances under which this is permitted."  MORE >>

"The IRS enforces pro rata rules when it comes to post-tax money in pre-tax sources. In addition to that, some plan sponsors have included in their plan documents their own specific rules for how Roth and traditional assets should be drawn down, which can be conflated with IRS regulation."  MORE >>

"The Second Circuit [concluded] that the Federal Arbitration Act ... does not require courts to enforce arbitration agreements to the extent they purport to prospectively waive substantive rights and remedies afforded by statute.... [T]he Second Circuit now stands with the Third, Seventh and Tenth Circuits in holding unenforceable Plan arbitration provisions that prevent a participant from pursuing rights and remedies under ERISA Section 502(a)(2)." [Cedeno v. Sasson, No. 21-2891 (2d Cir. May 1, 2024)]  MORE >>

"[P]rivate equity firms have increased their presence in the insurance industry -- especially in the annuity space -- to cash in on lucrative spread trades and get a piece of the rapidly growing pension risk transfer market. Now, regulators, lawmakers and some annuities customers are wondering if insurers have taken on too much risk."  MORE >>

"While CITs are often overshadowed by their more well-known mutual fund counterparts ... CITs have gained market share and are overtaking mutual funds in 401(k)s. When considering the benefits of offering a CIT, as opposed to a mutual fund, 66% of respondents said they consider lower cost and fees as the most significant benefit, and 18% cited the ability to negotiate fees."  MORE >>

46 pages. "Hedge funds' use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies to inform trading decisions, which has been a practice by many for decades, raises several concerns as this technology evolves, including inadequate disclosures to clients and the potential for increased risks to market stability. Federal regulators have not clarified how existing frameworks apply to the use of these technologies and need to more fully consider potential gaps in existing and proposed regulations."  MORE >>

"Robust growth in public pension assets during May 2024 largely erased April's losses and increased the estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans from 77.6% as of April 30, 2024, to 79.4% as of May 31, 2024"  MORE >>

"[T]he court held that each theory of the breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit was plausible because plan fiduciaries did not act in the best interests of plan participants by choosing to put forfeited plan contributions towards current participants' accounts rather than defraying administrative expenses in the plan.... The decision is a complete misinterpretation of ERISA fiduciary liability law. But more importantly, it ignored current law espoused by the Treasury Department on plan forfeitures as if it didn't even exist." [Perez-Cruet v. Qualcomm Inc., No. 23-1890 (S.D. Calif. May 24, 2024)]  MORE >>

"ERIC urges the DOL to substantially narrow the information request to reflect statutory requirements and to work with the [IRS] to obtain data through less restrictive means.... [T]he Proposal unnecessarily complicates what was supposed to be a basic online database, raising serious privacy and administration concerns."  MORE >>

"A panel of three arbitrators denied a claim by eight ex-Morgan Stanley brokers who were seeking $1.7 million in damages and expenses over allegations that the wirehouse illegally withheld their deferred compensation when they left for another firm, according to an award finalized on [June 17]. Morgan Stanley's victory follows two earlier losses in similar cases and gives the wirehouse some relief as it defends against dozens of deferred compensation claims still pending in arbitration"  MORE >>